Sheriff: Yacht trip with campaign supporter broke no laws

A construction giant who helped get Scott Israel elected took him and his family on a week-long private yacht cruise in the days before he was sworn in as the next Broward County sheriff.

Construction magnate Robert W. Pereira, president at The Middlesex Corporation, pumped $245,000 into groups opposing then-Sheriff Al Lamberti in last year's election. Click here for a memory refresher on his role in the election of Israel.

This week, the trip was revealed in a WPLG Channel 10 report. Israel immediately went on the radio, WFTL AM 850, to explain the trip and how he handled it under state ethics laws.

Today Israel spoke to us about it. Here's what we learned:

Pereira took the Israel family -- the sheriff, his wife and his teen triplets -- on a five-day cruise to the Bahamas aboard a luxury yacht, in the days before Israel was sworn into office in January, Israel said Friday.

As sheriff-elect, Israel was subject to the gift laws for elected officials, requiring him to report any gift worth more than $100, or to pay for the item (or in this case, the cruise).

Israel paid only $1,500 for the trip -- $300 per person -- saying state law allowed the trip to be valued at the coach rate for a commercial cruise, rather than whatever top dollar price might be paid for a private yacht charter.

He said he had sought advice from his transition team attorney and from Ron Gunzburger, who is now Broward Sheriff's Office's general counsel, before going on the vacation.

"My lawyers told me what to do before the ship set sail,'' Israel said. "They told me I had two options, one is to claim the trip as a gift and two is to pay for it. ... They looked up the price and I think the price of a standard cruise for that time was like $259. We rounded it up to $300 and I gave Mr. Pereira a check for $1,500.''

The check wasn't cashed for several months, but Israel said he figures that's because, to a wealthy man like Pereira, it "was like a $10 check to you and I. ''

Israel said he chose to pay for it rather than declare it as a gift on his state disclosure forms. The gift revelations are required so the public can learn who might be trying to influence their public officials.

"I just thought it would be more laudable to pay the money,'' Israel said. "If the gift, if let’s say the trip was worth $20,000, then I would have made a decision to claim it as a gift or not go, because I couldn’t afford that. But this was affordable. And that was it. I thought it was a laudable thing to do.''

On the yacht were the Israels, Pereira, his wife and daughter; the yacht crew and another couple.

Israel said he followed the law in paying for the trip, and if "it's your opinion that I paid too much or not enough, your problem is not with Scott or Susan Israel, your problem is with the laws of the state of Florida. This is not your call.''

Pereira has a couple of social connections to the sheriff.

For one, the sheriff's sister helped take care of Pereira's daughter in daycare years ago, Israel said. So Israel's sister introduced him. At another point during the campaign, he said, rocker Richie Supa introduced him to Pereira, whom he'd already met via his sister.

Israel's from New York, Pereira is from Boston. Israel roots for the Yankees, Pereira is a Red Sox fan. Israel is 57. Pereira is 66. Israel is a Democrat. Pereira isn't. But they liked each other.

"From the time we met we just are absolutely friends,'' he said, "and I know you’ve got friends in your life and I know you’ve met men or women in your life that you connect with immediately and they become a big part of your life and other people are acquaintances. ... I adored him and his family. He feels the same way about me and my family.''

He said he doesn't think Pereira is looking for anything from BSO.

"I clearly know two things he wants out of BSO. One is for me, he wants success for me and for himself, he wants nothing. Success for me and nothing for himself. There will never be on his end or my end, a business connection,'' Israel.

I left a message for Pereira but haven't heard back yet.

"The man is the salt of the earth and I’m very privileged to call Robert Pereira a friend,'' Israel said.

You might recall that our columnist, Michael Mayo, said this about Pereira's involvement in Israel's election last year: